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Celtic Hist. Newsletter: Scottish Easter/Spring games
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hist-@historicgames.com
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Mar 01, 2008 06:22 PST
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Dec 02, 2006 07:38 PST
The Celtic History Newsletter
Brought to you by
The Celtic Croft
http://www.kilts-n-stuff.com/
&
MacGregor Historic Games
http://historicgames.com
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Scottish Easter/Spring games
Fastern?s E?ven
Fastern Ev?n this ?farewell to meat? before Lent is the closest thing
to Mardi Gras or Carnival in Scotland. It was held on Shrove Tuesday,
or the last Tuesday before Lent. It was a time to use up fat, butter
and meat which was made into beef brose. The day was known variously
as ?Beef Brose?, ?Bannockl Night?, Brosie, Sautie Bannock Night, Rappy
Night, Shriften E?en, and Fastern E?en.
Like Carnival, it was an excuse for having some fun prior to the
sacrifices for Lent. Depending on the region, people gathered for
activities such as processions of craftsman, games of football or
handball which were played in the town streets. In the evening there
would be food, drink, music and dancing.
The football games involved two teams of men, sometimes unmarried men
against married men, or one craft trade against another. By the 18th
century efforts were made to change these sometimes hazardous,
no-holds-barred rough and tumble games to less dangerous forms.
?Jedburgh handba? is a massgame and the ball is carried in tempestuous
scrambles through houses and shops. The locked crowd of players sway
throught the streets barricaded windows. It is a free-for-all and
all-in and the players are legion. The major, if not the only rule,
and it is apparently unwritten, is that injuries should not be
inflincted deliberately?
At Duns, in Berwickshire the goals were to get the ball ?kirked? or
?milled.? One team trioed to place the ball on the pulpit of the
church, the other int the ?happer? of the mill. if the ball reached
the mill, the miller rewarded the team with pork and dumplings and
dusted their hats with flour. The games were traditionally followed by
dances and celebrations lasting into the wee hours. Many towns also
had specific fees or donations for the maintenance of the town?s game
ball. In Strathern, young couples on their wedding day were expected
to give money towards the ball?s upkeep and in other area the money
came from local craft guilds.
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